Britain calls for Egypt's new leaders to establish democracy

Foreign Secretary William Hague has called up on Egypt's new military rulers
to take "concrete and irrevocable steps" to establish democracy in
their country with the staging of free and fair elections.

Mr Hague warned against any attempt to "turn back the clock" following the dramatic resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, which ended 30 years of authoritarian rule in Egypt.

He said that the generals, who have now taken charge in Cairo, needed to move towards the formation of "a broad-based government that meets the aspirations and commands the respect of all Egyptians".

"The Higher Council of the Military Forces has a particular responsibility to implement the concrete and irrevocable steps this transition requires and to prepare for free and fair elections," he said in a statement.

"Any attempt to turn the clock back would be deeply damaging to Egypt's stability and cohesion and to its standing in the world, and would be met by condemnation.

"It is not a time for half-hearted measures. Egyptians have shown that they want irrevocable change for the better, not cosmetic change."

Prime Minister David Cameron also hailed the bravery of the demonstrators whose 18 days of mass protests finally forced Mr Mubarak to quit the office of president which he had appeared so determined to hang on to.

"Egypt now has a really precious moment of opportunity to have a government that can bring the country together," he said.

"Those who now run Egypt have a duty to reflect the wishes of the Egyptian people and, in particular, there really must be a move to civilian and democratic rule as part of this important transition to an open, democratic and free Egypt."

US President Barack Obama, described Mr Mubarak's resignation as the beginning, not the end, of the transition to democracy in the Arab country.

However, he warned there will be difficult days ahead.

Mr Obama said: "The people of Egypt have spoken. Their voices have been heard. And Egypt will never be the same."

The president said the Egyptian military had served patriotically and responsibly and must now lay out a clear path toward fair elections.

Mr Obama added: "Egyptians have inspired us, and they've done so by putting the lie to the idea that justice is best gained by violence.

"For Egypt, it was the moral force of non-violence, not terrorism, not mindless killing, that bent the arc of history toward justice once more."

Labour leader Ed Miliband said it was now the duty of the military to ensure a peaceful transition to democracy.

"Now the military have a heavy responsibility to ensure that Egypt gets the democratic future for which the people have protested," he said.

"We must be guided by them and support them to now secure the future that they have so courageously demanded."

EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton of Upholland said Europe stood ready to help in the transition process.

"There needs to be a process and it needs to be done in a calm and orderly way. Democracy is not a moment in time, it is a whole process that leads to those real elections that enables people to feel very confident in the future," she said.

"It is not for us to dictate to the people, but rather the people to decide what they now want. The people are giving a very clear message that they want to see democracy, they want to see respect for human rights."